Printer Purchase - Caution Question?

[Cougurr]

Does anyone recall the printer brand (Manufacturer Name) we were cautioned about purchasing due to the manufacturer have control over its functions and use when setup on our home networks? I remember this being a discussion item at a previous meeting and was first brought to our attention by Alan Perry on one of his Tech Talk shows.

After over 15 years of stellar performance my home office Xerox WorkCentre 6605 had issued a function code that I have not been able to resolve with its on screen directions that I followed. Looking now for another Color Laser replacement to consider purchasing if I cannot locate a local Xerox service option. Hence why I am concerned to not select the wrong brand.

Any suggestions from members using an office level Laser Printer would be appreciated. A quick look in Staples, yesterday, at their various brands was interesting. I determined the machines they offer for paid public use were all Xerox brand and they do not sell any home office Xerox. The also do not appear to use any of their available brands within their own store!
Thanks for reading this.
Colin

 

[DaveWT]

I think it was HP that we were being cautioned about. I believe you need to be connected to the HP mothership now to use the printer so they can keep track of how you use the printer (and hopefully not what you are printing.)

Dave

 

[chas_m]

I think it was HP that we were being cautioned about. I believe you need to be connected to the HP mothership now to use the printer so they can keep track of how you use the printer (and hopefully not what you are printing.)

Dave

HP collects general stats like number of pages printed per week/month, how much you print from computer or phone or tablet, and the broad type of documents (text, text with images, photo, that sort of thing). The company can also monitor your ink levels so that IF you opt to sign up for their subscription ink delivery service, the new inks will appear “like magic” right when you need them. It’s all about marketing and add-ons as far as I can tell

It could be possible that HP is monitoring details of the pages you print, but that has not been confirmed and I’m a bit doubtful of that particular claim due to the varying laws in different areas about that kind of activity (Canada being WELL up on the US with regards to user privacy). I believe their “spyware” is almost entirely in service to their efforts to get you to subscribe to their ink/toner subscription service and their marketing campaigns, which is still kind of invasive but not so insidious-sounding.